The Oyster Project is dedicated to oyster restoration in the estuaries of Massachusetts. Oyster reefs provide shelter for 100 other species including shrimp, eels, lobsters and the young of many commercial species. Oysters also are tremendous water cleaners as each filters 30 gallons of water per day.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Whiskey and Oysters- The two meet in Scotland in restoration project

We have provided excerpts of a wonderful article about a new oyster restoration initiative we found on a National Geographic site. It discusses how a distillery is working to restore oysters to Dornoch Firth. Those of you who have enjoyed golf and whiskey in the area will soon have a reason to return- OYSTERS.

Map of Dornoch Firth Scotland

Divers who
have explored the reefs of the Firth agree that the European flat oyster
thrived in these waters for thousands of years, as it did all over Europe. But
in the 19th century, overfishing and disease essentially crushed the species.
This left the population without a valuable food source and the water without a
powerful natural purifier.

The Beautiful Glenmorangie Distillery

In a
research and action partnership unlike any other currently underway,
Glenmorangie is collaborating with the Marine Conservation Society of the
United Kingdom and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh to bring back the
European flat. The Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project, or DEEP, aims not
only to preserve the current diversity of marine life in the area, but also
reintroduce the once-teaming bivalve.

The virtual
disappearance of the European flat oyster in Europe is the story of “death by a
thousand cuts,” says Heriot-Watt Associate Professor William Sanderson.

“The most
significant and deepest initial cut in any one area was probably … the
industrialized extraction of wild oysters. In the late 1800's, particularly in
the UK, we were building the infrastructure, by way of the steam train, to
transport oysters and serve them to large urban markets. By the
mid-to-late-19th century, most local oyster populations were gone,” he says.

European
flats like this one have all but been wiped out in the wild on the continent,
but the DEEP program aims to restore them to the Dornoch Firth.

Sanderson
leads the research for DEEP. Independent, widely published, authoritative on
marine variety, and himself a diver, he’s explored the Dornoch Firth’s reefs
and is securing licensing for the oyster restoration project. “This is
uncharted territory since it has not been done before,” he says. “There is not
a precedent for restoring something that was there in the past.”

Calum
Duncan, head of Scottish conservation for the UK Marine Conservation Society,
hopes this project will inspire similar efforts around the world. “We live in a
world of shifting baselines,” says Duncan, “where our perception of richness,
the state of biodiversity generally, diminishes from generation to generation,
as we lose memories and records of previously richer ecological conditions.”

To a
significant degree, DEEP is an effort to mitigate the impact of the distillery
on the Dornoch Firth. The water of Glenmorangie’s own Tarlogie Springs is where
its Scotch whisky process begins and, ultimately, what is not distilled and
committed to casks is dumped into the Dornoch Firth at the end of production.

Glenmorangie
is just months away from the launch of an anaerobic digestion plant, which it
expects will remove as much as 95 percent of the chemical oxygen demand of the
distillery’s organic waste. The methane gas produced by the process will be
cycled back to the distillery as an energy source, reducing Glenmorangie’s
carbon footprint.

Once
launched, the Distillery will see an immediate energy saving of 15 percent,
says Hamish Torrie, director of Corporate Social Responsibility for
Glenmorangie. What remains of the processed materials, which once went out to
sea, will now go to the barley farmers of the region to enrich their soil.

The process
of restoring oysters is fragile, particularly with finicky European flats, and
there are no guarantees that it will work. But scientists say there’s no
dispute about the worthiness of the effort.

"Oysters
bio-filter like crazy. Depending on the density of the population, they could
really clean up the water,” says Richard Shaw, of the College of the Coast and
Environment at Louisiana State University, who is not involved in the project.
In addition, “the oysters will be the perfect sentinel to test the water
quality,” he says.

In the
United States, efforts to restore water quality and the oyster population are
percolating everywhere (see From Oysters to Kelp, the Evolution of
Aquaculture).

Atlanta-based
data scientist Richard Anderson consults on natural resources management.
Oysters, he says, are ecosystem champions. As filter-feeding bivalves, “they
have the capacity to offset the effects of accelerated aquatic growth due to
excessive human population-caused fertilizer runoff into water bodies, promote
the growth of beneficial submerged aquatic vegetation, and make the water more
aesthetically attractive.”

And there
are few pairings as perfect as oysters and Scotch whisky. “The combination of
the earthy, malty flavors of fine Scotch contrast brilliantly with the
maritime, briny flavors of oysters,” says Torrie. “Pure terroir!” Both whisky
and oysters involve a long-time commitment, he says. “Knowing that our actions
now will help us to peacefully co-exist with nature for generations to come is
something we are all immensely proud of.”

Today the
Dornoch Firth is alive with a diversity of wildlife. “There are very few modern
day pressures in the system,” says Sanderson, “and it is rightly famous for its
wildlife, including seagrass, mussels, birds and seals.” What it’s missing in
the humble yet powerful oyster.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About the Mass Oyster Project for Clean Water

MOP is a 501c-3 non-profit dedicated to restoring water-cleansing oysters to Boston Harbor after their being absent for decades. Each oyster can filter 30 gallons of water per day. An oyster reef can shelter up to 100 other species so they dramatically add to biodiversity. Oysters also sequester nitrogen in wastewater and each person creates 12 pounds per year. Oyster shells contain calcium carbonate a known buffer that can help offset ocean acidification. MOP has shown that oysters can survive and grow in Boston Harbor. The group is now seeking to optimize placements to maximize survival and eventually show reproduction. Come join us in making your Harbor healthier!